Letters To The Editor

Don Chapman
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March 28, 2007 - MidWeek
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Frazier must go

Regarding Bob Hogue’s column about the pressure being on University of Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier, UH football fans are upset that he still has not produced a final, complete schedule for the fall 2007 season. There are two slots that need to be filled. How can people renew their season tickets - or new season tickets be sold - when they don’t know the schedule for the home games?

What makes it more irritating is that UH has a highly touted quarterback, Colt Brennan, who is being groomed for the Heisman Trophy. The quality of the teams he plays against will sway how voters perceive him. So far, UH, which is a Division 1-A school, has one Division 1-AA team on its schedule. If a second is also scheduled, it will not count toward the wins required to play in a bowl game, so it’s like throwing a game away. And as time marches on, fewer Division 1-A teams will be available.

There’s now a groundswell of opposition, and calls for Frazier’s firing are being heard. If he is as incompetent as he seems to be, then he must go. It’s not nice to terminate someone’s livelihood, but that’s the nature of the business.

Sometimes, you need a nudge to find a more suitable niche in life.

Glenda Chung Hinchey

Honolulu


Boylan: half right

I couldn’t agree more with the first half of Dan Boylan’s article about the excellence of the movie Amazing Grace. However, his latter half attempt to connect the movie’s theme, ending slavery in the British Empire, with our present-day struggles to reach accord on the issues of civil unions and dying with dignity, does not work.

Outlawing slavery was about ending the grossly inhumane treatment of human beings. Opposition came from a powerful few who made substantial financial gain from this mis-treatment. This simply does not apply in the case of these two modern-day issues. To suggest otherwise is to be disingenuous.

But since Britain’s slavery beneficiaries sought to obfuscate the true nature of their enterprise, perhaps Mr. Boylan has provided us some common ground between the movie and these two issues after all.

Steve Klein

Kailua


Give Harris credit

I was reading the letters-to-the-editor section in MidWeek and saw the director of the city’s Customer Service Department responding to criticism from Bob Jones regarding the slowness of the driver licensing office.

Jeff Coelho said the city switched to an over-the-counter system in response to public demand, so they could obtain their licenses on the spot, and had also installed TVs in the waiting areas and improved signage to aid customers. Hello? That was done by the Harris administration.

Remember them? Harris instituted many of the improvements Mufi Hannemann and his band have been taking credit for the last two years.

What is with these people? Is it something in the water at City Hall or they can’t point to anything they’ve done on their own? They really can’t think the public is that stupid, can they?

Jason Kokaaina

Waipahu

Real war numbers

Dan Boylan recently wrote that “there are all those wounded (20,000 or so?) who have come home ...” Kindly let me enlighten you with the correct number: 50,508 (as of Feb. 1). This includes those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and also applies to injuries from accidents like vehicle crashes and to mental and physical illnesses that developed in the war zone. The reality of our (?) wars is much more serious than we are led to believe.

Gerhard C. Hamm

Honolulu


Celebrity status

I want to send thanks to Diana Helfand, The Heart-y Chef, for dedicating a column to me and my family. Diana and her husband were in the store I manage at Ward Centre, Welcome to the Islands. They were a thoroughly enjoyable couple, and after I had finished up their purchase, Ms. Helfand told me about her column. I was very flattered that she wanted to “dedicate” a column to me. I have already received a call from one of her readers asking about the store! It is all quite wonderful.

I feel bad mentioning it, but my last name was incorrectly spelled as Lau instead of Lai. I want to be able to flaunt my new celebrity status and make sure that everyone knows exactly who they are reading about.

Again, please express my sincerest thanks to Mrs. Helfand.

Nikki Lai

Honolulu

Send your letters to MidWeek Letters, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 500, Honolulu, HI. 96813; by fax to 585-6324, or by email to dchapman@midweek.com. Please include your name, address and daytime and evening phone numbers. We print only the letters that include this information, but only your name and area of residence will appear in print. Letters may be edited for clarity and space.
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